1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a method and the associated apparatus for reorienting a moving stack of paper products. In particular, the present invention employs a simple, economic, extremely efficient method of reorienting moving paper products through 90.degree. to permit packaging the paper products in a specific orientation in a typical cardboard container.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many products such as cereals, hair treatment kits, and nails are packaged in paper containers for retail sale to the consumer. These paper containers are generally manufactured by first forming all the edges for the container by scoring or creasing a piece of cardboard; printing and labeling the cardboard; and gluing one or more edges together to form the shell of the container. The shell is flat, but is quickly formed into a container by opening the shell and securing the bottom and top ends of the shell in any manner known in the art, such as by gluing.
In order to ship the containers to the user manufacturing company, the shells are not packaged in the fully open position because of spatial requirements. The shells are shipped to the user manufacturer in flat form and the manufacturer secures the bottom and top ends to form the container.
Because certain containers must be glued in a manner different from other containers, user manufacturers generally specify the manner in which the shell is to be oriented when shipped. Consequently, container makers must have the ability to easily affect orientation of the shell as specified by the user manufacturer. The following patents teach various methods of reorienting paper products.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,387,890 to Lampe illustrates apparatus for changing the orientation of stacked, overlying sheets of paper by employing a turntable to lift the sheets off a first conveyor, rotating the sheets through 90 degrees, and placing the sheets on a second conveyor, aligned with the first conveyor. This device interrupts a moving line because it is not a continuous procedure.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,372,436 to Achelpohl et al teaches apparatus for deflecting flat sheets through 180.degree. by two simultaneous 90 degree rotations. A first double belt conveyor is in alignment with a perpendicular conveyor, which is in alignment with a third conveyor, parallel to the first double belt conveyor. On the inside angle, at the confluence of each junction of conveyor belts, is a turning device complete with gripper tongs for aiding in the transfer of paper from conveyor to conveyor during reorientation. While this device is a continuous procedure, and it maintains a stacked array, it is incapable of reorienting a paper line especially if the paper is stacked.
It is also known that upright curved deflectors, typically made from metal are employed for directing and orienting a stack of paper products 90 degrees from the original orientation. These deflectors are inconsistent and frequently jam an entire stacked line of moving paper products. Generally, an operator is assigned to continually correct the inconsistencies caused by the deflector.